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We actually do both. Purification for bulk. And we have the ability to build water farms...I have seen them. But bottled water is easier to move by pallet and transload to aircraft.

And you may have noticed I said water is NOT a commodity which is an issue.

To an outsider like me it seems like a trivial issue. Why can't these decisions be made on a mission level? Want to supply a military base like Bagram? Put up a purification plant. Want to hunt Bin Laden on a chopper? Take a few bottles with you.

I remember watching some show about a combat outpost in A-stan. There were pallets of bottled water in all over the base. I hope they have a special recycle bin for all that plastic. We don't want to make Green Peace angry.

How they keep it chill on the desert sun?

No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

If I recall correctly, scotch is supposed to be room temperature. There is no definition of room temperature if I recall correctly

That's right sir. Spirits from Europe were made for "room temperature" or "ambient temperature." The thing was most of these were made in higher latitudes like the British isles. Ambient temperature there was and still is lower than most of US.

I believe scotch should be consumed at around 60F, maybe in the range between 55F and 65F. That is the ambient temperature in higher latitudes one a nice summer night.

Doesn't have to be potable water for vehicles. Water tankers in the supply columns, along with other supplies.

The US only produces potable water during water production. Potable water actually works better in machines as it has more of the impurities removed. It also eases care and maintenance of the water tanks.

In the US military, using the Colonel's scenario, a US brigade combat team and/or MEB has internal limited water purification and production capability. Follow on forces provide bulk. For assault palletized makes a LOT more sense. Additionally every soldier gets water purification tablets.

“We had been hopelessly labouring to plough waste lands; to make nationality grow in a place full of the certainty of God… Among the tribes our creed could be only like the desert grass – a beautiful swift seeming of spring; which, after a day’s heat, fell dusty.”
― T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph

If possible ice can be shipped forward from ice plants (civilian or military) but that is limited. It is a real morale boost.

But the water is usually at the ambient temperature.

“We had been hopelessly labouring to plough waste lands; to make nationality grow in a place full of the certainty of God… Among the tribes our creed could be only like the desert grass – a beautiful swift seeming of spring; which, after a day’s heat, fell dusty.”
― T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph

If possible ice can be shipped forward from ice plants (civilian or military) but that is limited. It is a real morale boost.

But the water is usually at the ambient temperature.

Wow! American logistics is lavish enough to ship ice to combat outposts. It reminds me of that scene in "Battle of the Bulge" when the German commander confided to his aide that the war was already lost because his raiding party captured a fresh cake from the Americans. He said the Americans had the spare capacity to ship a fresh cake from Boston across the Atlantic to the front line of France. Germany was doomed.

Wow! American logistics is lavish enough to ship ice to combat outposts. It reminds me of that scene in "Battle of the Bulge" when the German commander confided to his aide that the war was already lost because his raiding party captured a fresh cake from the Americans. He said the Americans had the spare capacity to ship a fresh cake from Boston across the Atlantic to the front line of France. Germany was doomed.

Yes, and the Germans probably couldn't have even gotten one from Germany, which was only 100 miles to the east!

"There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge